Autologous blood transfusion or autotransfusion is the collection and reinfusion of a patient's own blood products. Autologous blood is preferred in some instances because the blood type will always match, and if only autologous blood is used during surgery then the risk of exposure to infectious diseases, such as, hepatitis or HIV from blood, is substantially eliminated, and the risk of allergic reactions, or other adverse reactions, is significantly reduced.
Generally, during a surgical procedure autologous blood transfusion may be facilitated by either a blood processing device, such as a cell-saver type machine or a cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) machine. The CPB machine is directly connected to the patient by tubing which allows for continuous recovery of blood from a body cavity and reinfusion of the patient's blood. The “cell-saver” method requires the recovered blood to be processed (spun, washed, etc.) and then bagged for reinfusion via a typical intravenous route.
Surgical sponges are also commonly used during surgical procedures to absorb body fluids of the patient, such as blood, both inside the incision or around the site of the surgery. Sponges of this nature are usually made of an open-meshed absorbent fabric, such as woven cotton. The sponge may be re-used or discarded and the process repeated as many times as is necessary during the surgical procedure. Typically, the blood is recovered from the sponge by either physically wringing the sponge or by soaking the sponge in a saline solution, and then the blood and saline solution are suctioned either into the cell saver where the red blood cells are washed, spun and returned to the patient, or directly by a CPB machine. The wringing method has a number of drawbacks, such as, loss of blood from splatter and residual blood remaining on hands. In addition, this method is time-consuming, inefficient, and has the potential to physically damage the blood cells due to the compressional and torsional forces. Furthermore, the amount of blood recovered from the sponges is variable, and depends on the individual's strength, technique and stamina. In addition, the wringing method is not particularly aesthetic and is generally considered as being undesirable by most users.
It is an object of an aspect of the following to mitigate or obviate at least one of the above-mentioned disadvantages.